Shipped Eggs and Hatch Rate

I, personally, have had poor luck with shipped eggs. Most do come in 2-3 days but I have ended up with very poor hatch rates.

I have two different batches going now (one only a few days into incubation), my first batch came in 2 days and had 14 eggs. At one week, I candled them and had 6 of those that were perfectly clear, no indication that anything even started. (BTW, I did let tehm sit after getting them). 3 eggs had blood rings or brown masses with no veins at all- almost perfectly clear- so I assume they started and ended for whatever reason. I have 5 eggs progressing well.

Is it safe to assume those 6 eggs where never fertile?? Does that include my hatch rate or is that considered to be a low fertility rate??

I have had a 100% hatch rate on shipped eggs-but one was born with a defect. I also had 12 hatch of 24. It appeared to be a fertility issue as I candled early and they were clear. I try to order from the same state or the next closest state to me. I figure longer travel time=less viable shipped eggs.

i know i wasnt supposed to but i couldnt resist and me and william ( my 6yr old) candled our eggs this morning...we bought 11 silkie eggs from a very nice BYC member and they came in great conditionin 2 days via priority mail. Well anyways there is DEFINITELY veins and goodness in 7 out of the 11 eggs. One i really cant see into very well--> it has a good looking air sac though so it may be just "younger" than the rest. There is one that I can see is totally clear at this stage and the other two i cant tell as they are brownish eggs and i dont know what the heck im doing!!!!!!!!!!!! Still im really excited that 7 of them have veins and little "masses" inside em.

Yes, and I am one that will take my chances if I am in doubt about the viability. If I think it may be good I will leave it in the bator and cross my fingers that it is not bad and won't EXPLODE! (haven't had that happen yet).

2 eggs from my last batch I though were'nt any good at day 14 candling. I am SO GLAD I did not toss them-they are alive today

Is it safe to assume those 6 eggs where never fertile?? Does that include my hatch rate or is that considered to be a low fertility rate??

No, it's not safe to assume they were never fertile. Shipping can do a number on eggs. I'm still amazed we can ship eggs in the mail and get some unscrambled and I've been doing this for over a year! hehe

They can get messed up in flight, could get put through x-ray, many things could happen making them clear when they get to you. It's important that buyers know this, IMO, so they do not accuse sellers of sending non-fertile eggs.

I would count your hatch rate based on how many start growing, personally, on shipped eggs. I wouldn't count clear eggs against the seller or against your hatching rate.

JMO

I've had some wonderful hatch rates (up to 100%) on shipped eggs and all the way down to 0%. If I get 50% these days on shipped eggs, I am thrilled!​

Asher, I WAS NEVER ACCUSING THE SHIPPER ...........that was not at all my intent. How can I blame hu, they dont control the rooster. I was only asking because of looking at fertility rates versus hatching rates. I actually spoke with the shipper (who is very nice I might add) who got similar results at home to what I am experiences with the same rooster and hens, so it MAY BE safe to assume those were not fertile.

Please do not assume I was writing this post in order to blame the shipper--all I was doing was looking for guidance on hatching rate and which eggs should be counted when determining hatch rates. I have worked with this long enough that I know better than to blame the shipper for the rooster not fertilizing the egg.​

Shipped eggs can be clear after incubation but that does not mean they were not fertile. You can check it out by cracking open the egg when you decide to pitch it for lack of development. The blastoderm will show if the egg was fertilized. Many people advertise having great fertility and sell their eggs accordingly. That is why most people selling eggs on Eggbid or Ebay make a disclaimer about your hatch rate. If I set my eggs here and get 90+ % that develop and someone tells me that none or very few developed, I check my fertility again. If I still have the same results as I did at first, then the problem is with shipping if not I offer to replace eggs when I can be sure my rooster is getting the job done. I never expect to get better than 50 % hatch Rate on shipped eggs. I have gotten better results but most often I do not and most times this is due to a failure to develop or blood rings. These things happen with shipped eggs, it is part of the process we accept when buying eggs that are packaged in a box and jostled around the country for several days.

Most people are a little sensitive about using the term infertile in regards to eggs they shipped because that would indicate that they know there eggs are not going to develop and they sell them anyway. That is something that any responsible seller does not want.